Media Backgrounders

ANA works to develop solutions to the core issues that affect nurses and their patients, among them adequate staffing, the nursing shortage, a safe work environment, barriers to full nursing practice, and broader access to health care. Here you’ll find background on the nursing profession and its core issues.

The nurse work environment has improved, particularly the availability of patient lifting equipment and safer needle devices, but many nurses still work in pain, suffer injuries on the job, and are targets for abuse.

As health insurance coverage expands, the Medicare population bulges, and health care services continue moving from institutional to community-based settings, APRNs are being called upon to deliver more of the nation’s health care.

The Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act of 2000 gave health care workers more input into selection of safer sharps devices and helped reduce injuries, but incidents that could expose workers to bloodborne pathogens still occur too often.